LAWLESSNESS ALONG THE MEXICAN BORDER IS GROWING CAUSE OF CONCERN

MATAMOROS, Mexico - Smuggling has always thrived along the U.S.-Mexico
border, where money can buy passage for almost anything.

Now, as the United States beefs up security after the Sept. 11 attacks,
Mexico's endemic lawlessness has raised concerns that terrorists could use
the country's organized crime networks to unleash future attacks against
America.

The United States and Mexico are discussing border security, and the two
countries are expected to reach an agreement next year, following a recent
U.S.-Canada accord to fight terrorism along the northern frontier of the
United States.

"Mexico will not be a place of residency for terrorists nor a place of
transit," Mexican President Vicente Fox said during a recent trip to Tijuana.

But Fox has struggled to halt widespread corruption and bring down deadly
cartels. In December, five federal agents and two state police officers in
Reynosa were arrested on charges of working for one of Mexico's most-wanted
drug lords, Osiel Cardenas.

Drug lords are "so embedded that they run things," said Louis Sadler, a
border specialist at New Mexico State University. "They know where the
creases are in the border. They know what the odds are of being able to
evade a sensory field, balloons or whatever."

Concerns over lawlessness

There is no evidence that terrorists have conducted attacks against the
United States from Mexico. But even without corruption, government
officials on both sides of the border have expressed concerns about
Mexico's lax security and lawless culture.

Ruben Garza, a regional supervisor for Mexico's Comptroller's office, said
there were periods when no one was watching luggage move through X-ray
machines at Tijuana's airport. Months ago, Mexico took extra security
measures at the airport because of its proximity to San Diego.

"Anyone who has the intention of introducing arms or some kind of device to
cause harm, can do it with relative ease if they stop and observe the
security measures at the airport," he said.

In Ciudad Juarez, Republican members of the U.S. House said recently they
had easily found people offering fake visas.

"We crossed over the border in Mexico, and when we got there we asked the
first person we found on the street whether it would be possible to
purchase a document in order to get into the United States," Rep. Tom
Tancredo of Colorado said. "Within about one minute, we were able to find
such a person. This makes the whole border process, to say the least,
difficult."

Powerful smuggling rings

Mexico's borderlands are home to some of Latin America's most powerful
smuggling rings. Over the years, they have infiltrated all levels of
government, hiring officials to give them safe passage.

In November, a former immigration agent in Ciudad Juarez was sentenced to
30 months in prison for working for a million-dollar global network that
had smuggled hundreds of Iraqis and Palestinians into the United States
since 1996.

In September, the former police chief in Mexicali, across from Calexico,
Calif., was jailed on a charge of warning Mexico's deadly Arellano Felix
gang of police operations.

The problem is not just Mexico's. In early December, an El Paso immigration
inspector was arrested on a charge of coordinating drug shipments across
the Rio Grande.

Sadler, the border specialist, said terrorists could use such networks.

"These drug types are just as bad, if not worse, than Osama bin Laden,"
Sadler said. "They are cold-blooded killers who care for nothing or nobody
- - and for enough money they can be had."

Yet John Bailey, a Mexico expert at Georgetown University, says he believes
even corrupt officials will draw the line when it comes to terrorism,
figuring the risks outweigh the bribes.

"They might be restrained in the sense of being aware of the fact of what
the retaliation factors will be," he said. "But they could also say
smuggling people across the border is not the same as destroying the World
Trade towers. They could say 'Hey, I didn't know these guys were terrorists.'"